I think we could leave out “democracy” entirely and go with the “rule of law” for Russia as a reasonable goal instead of Putin’s rule by ukase.
Yep, agree with that.
One thing I want to highlight is that the U.S. actually inherited (aspects of) the British common law, legal system, although with variants since. Culturally & historically, vis a vis Russia, that’s significant in shaping the U.S. since its formation.